1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for automatically adjusting a fee such as a toll for a toll road, for example, Shuto Kosoku Highway, Tomei Kosoku Highway or the like. In particular, this invention relates to an automatic toll adjusting system employing a storage medium having a radio communicating function, which system enables automatic toll adjustment resulting in no ticket being issued or no stopping of a vehicle.
2) Description of the Related Art
Media used to pay tolls for present toll roads are, in general, a coupon ticket, a prepaid card (a mode of toll pre-payment by a magnetic card) and the like other than cash.
On a toll road where a toll irrespective of trip distance is collected, for instance, the user stops his or her vehicle at a tollhouse (a tollhouse on a toll road of this type is referred to hereinafter as an entrance/exit toll house or an entrance/exit toll adjusting gate), and pays a fixed toll to an attendant of the entrance/exit tollhouse.
On a toll road where a toll according to a trip distance is collected, the user stops his or her vehicle at an entrance tollhouse (a tollhouse on a toll road of this type is referred to hereinafter as an entrance tollhouse or an entrance toll adjusting gate), and receives a ticket on which entrance tollhouse information and vehicle type information are magnetically recorded. At an exit tollhouse (an exit tollhouse on a toll road of this type is referred to as an exit tollhouse or an exit toll adjusting gate), the user stops the vehicle, hands the ticket to an attendant of this exit tollhouse and pays a toll calculated on the basis of the various information recorded on the ticket.
In general, the user can pay the toll with a coupon ticket, cash, or a prepaid card. In the case of a prepaid card, the user hands the prepaid card to the attendant. The toll is subtracted from a balance on the prepaid card. The user then receives the prepaid card back from the attendant.
As an adjusting system for tolls, an unmanned entrance/exit tollhouse, or an entrance and exit toll houses both of which are unmanned, or a system in which toll adjustment necessitating no stopping of a passing vehicle at a tollhouse are not yet generalized. If such a system becomes possible, it will be helpful to solve traffic jams at the tollhouse, save labor, etc.
Littering of tickets in the tollhouse, traffic jams, and exhaust gas on toll roads are serious public concerns. Therefore, there is an expectation to solve such problems by realizing ticketless toll adjustment or toll adjustment without needing to stop a vehicle.
There are various proposals where radio communication techniques are used for toll adjustment.
For instance, in a radio card system disclosed in a specification of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 5-35933, a radio card is inserted in a vehicle mounted apparatus to receive toll information and service information from a tollhouse, the received various information is output from a display or a speaker of an on-vehicle apparatus, and in addition the toll is recorded on a radio card in a toll collecting process.
In a toll collecting apparatus disclosed in a specification of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 62-42292, toll information (vehicle type, etc.) stored in an on-vehicle device is transmitted by radio communication to a ground device located at a tollhouse, a toll is determined by the ground device, and the toll collection information is displayed on the on-vehicle device.
In a terminal for collecting a toll for a toll road disclosed in a specification of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 63-44293, an ID card is inserted in an on-vehicle device, a password is input, and the password is confirmed. After that, the on-vehicle device transmits settlement information (ID, vehicle type, etc.) to the terminal at a tollhouse by radio communication, then a toll is determined at the terminal.
A toll collecting system disclosed in a specification of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 5-197856, discloses a radio card with a display, a keyboard and a terminal which communicate with each other by radio communication to collect a toll in a toll pre-payment system employing a password.
In a highway toll calculating system disclosed in a specification of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 61-9783, an on-vehicle device transmits identification information (ID) and vehicle type information to a terminal by radio communication to an entrance tollhouse and an exit tollhouse. The terminal calculates a toll based on the received information, and performs a post-payment process to withdraw the calculated toll from a bank account. In a toll automatic adjusting system for a toll road disclosed in a specification of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 5-151414, an on-vehicle device transmits a registered number to a terminal by radio communication, and the terminal performs a post-payment process to withdraw a toll calculated on the basis of the registered number from a bank account through a toll processing apparatus.
In addition to the above examples, there are also proposed a toll collecting system for toll roads where a license number of a vehicle is automatically recognized to collect a toll from a bank account corresponding to the license number of the vehicle (refer to specifications of Japanese Patent Kokai Publication no. 4-107699, and Japanese Patent Kokai Publication no. 5-54218), and an unmanned toll collecting system for toll roads in which a license number is read out, a toll is calculated from a vehicle type known from the license number, and the toll is claimed from a registrant of the license number (refer to Japanese Patent Kokai Publication no. 63-8890).
However, the above techniques employ either a pre-payment system or a post-payment (credit) system as a toll payment system. To allow voluntary selection of either a toll pre-payment system or a toll post-payment system to the users of toll road, it is necessary to provide an apparatus or a medium for each of the above systems.
According to the above technique, a password is set and stored in advance and a security function is applied to check the password when a toll is collected. If personal information such as an identification number, a number of a bank account, etc. is exchanged by radio communication, there is a risk that the information will be intercepted. It is also necessary to cope with tampering of the data for balance information used for toll pre-payment, an account number for toll post-payment and vehicle information, or fraudulent, invalid or improper use of the information or data. Further, to avoid fraudulent, invalid or improper use or data tampering on a toll post-payment process necessitating no stopping of a vehicle, there is a demand for a strong security.